All In The Family
by TakerTakeMe
Summary: When Chris won't take Stephanie back, will Chris's brother Riley be able to comfort her?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Stephanie felt more depressed than she'd felt in her entire life. There was no other way to describe it. Her life was completely crazy at the moment. The divorce between her and Paul had just been finalized the previous week, and life as a single woman was just...weird. So she was making her return to the wrestling business, to something familiar, in an attempt to make things they way they _used_ to be, before she'd married Paul...

She walked backstage at Raw, wondering where Paul was. She didn't want to see him. No doubt, he was somewhere around the place. Although he was no longer her husband, he was still a major part of the company, and there was nothing she could do about that until his contract expired.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was at Chris Irvine's locker room door. She'd always been attracted to him in all the _worst_ ways. That was one of the many reasons her marriage hadn't worked out, the fact that her heart never fully belonged to Paul one hundred percent. Chris had always had a portion of her heart, always...

She knocked on the door and it swung open immediately. And suddenly she was face to face with the man of her dreams.

"Chris?" she said in a soft voice, nearly breathless by just seeing him in person after almost two whole years.

He looked at her, wide-eyed. "Stephanie?"

"How are you?" she asked.

He gaped at her, then rolled his eyes. "Oh, now _this_ is _classic_," he said in a sarcastic voice.

"What?" she asked, confused. _Was that sarcasm I just detected in his voice?_

"You get married and you don't talk to me for like two years," he said angrily. "And now you come back and expect for me to be all happy to see you? You're a funny person."

"But I-" she started, but he rudely cut her off.

"Tell it to the door," he said coldly, and suddenly, Stephanie was face-to-face with his closed locker room door with him nowhere in sight.

She couldn't believe it. What had happened to the Chris she had once known? The Chris that she had loved? The Chris that held a portion of her heart that she would never be able to take back? The Chris that admitted that he loved her as much as she loved him?

Tears started streaming from her eyes as she slowly began to walk away. If she didn't have Chris, who _did_ she have?

The answer was simple.

No one.

She headed for the privacy of her office, knowing she wouldn't be disturbed there. Very few people knew about her coming back, and she decided, _Maybe it should stay that way_...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Chris sat down on the couch in his locker room and stared at the wall. "I can't believe her nerve!" he exclaimed to his brother Riley.

"I can't believe _your_ nerve," Riley replied quietly from a chair nearby.

Chris looked at his brother. "Are you taking _her_ side?" he asked in total disbelief.

"Hey, there are no sides here, dude," Riley said. "I'm just saying, that was pretty screwed the way you didn't even hear what she had to say."

"You, of all people, know the hell that I went through because of her," Chris said. "She ruined my life."

"You can't place all the blame on her, though," Riley pointed out. "It was partially your fault as well."

"You _are_ taking her side!" Chris accused. "Even after all the crap I went through in my personal life because of her."

"Like I said before, I'm not taking anyone's side," Riley said. "I'm just saying, everything that happened in your life because of the way _you_ felt about _her_ isn't all her fault."

"How can you say that?" Chris asked. "I nearly divorced my _wife_ for her, just so we could have a _chance_ to be together. Just a little _chance_."

"The key word there is nearly," Riley said. "You _nearly_ divorced your wife. But you didn't go through with it, remember? So what did you expect her to do? Just keep being your little whore on the side?"

"She was never my whore," Chris said angrily. "So don't you dare call her that!"

"But that's what she _felt _like. Think about it. You were married, and you were seeing her on the side," Riley said. "You never divorced your wife. So of course, Stephanie felt like she was your little whore. And you did nothing to persuade her otherwise."

"Well, thanks for the little speech, _bro_," Chris said sarcastically. "You're basically saying it's all my fault that she married Paul."

"I'm not saying it's your fault that she married Paul. Maybe that's your guilt talking," Riley said. "But it's all your fault that she's hurting right now. I'm sure she's somewhere alone right now crying her eyes out."

"I can't believe you're taking her side!" Chris snapped. "You're _my_ brother. When are you going to realize that and take _my_ side?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Riley said, standing up and heading for the door. "But I'll leave you with this question in mind: When are _you_ going to come to your senses and realize that you still love her?"

Riley didn't wait for Chris to answer. He just slipped quietly out of the room. Pushing strands of his blond hair back from his face, he walked purposefully to Stephanie McMahon's office. What Chris had said to her was _wrong_. He knew Chris was just angry, not in his right mind. But that didn't excuse him for what he'd said and it didn't erase the fact that one particular Billion Dollar Princess was hurting.

He decided that tonight, he would try to stop her pain...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Stephanie quickly wiped her eyes when someone knocked on the door of her office. "Come in," she called after a minute, looking down at the papers spreaded across the top of her desk in front of her.

Someone walked in and shut the door softly. The next thing Stephanie knew, someone was sitting on the edge of her desk and she could feel the person staring down at her.

"I'm really sorry about what just happened," the person said.

She looked up and couldn't believe her eyes. "Chris! I thought you didn't want to talk to me," she exclaimed.

"I'm not Chris," Riley said.

She narrowed her eyes. "Then who are you, then? Gosh, Chris, why are you playing games with me?"

"No, I'm really _not_ Chris. I'm his younger brother Riley," he said.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Impossible. Chris never mentioned any younger brothers to me."

"He has _four_ younger brothers. Me, our younger twin brothers, Talan and Tristan, and our youngest brother Taylor," he informed her.

"Yeah, right," she said.

"Look. You just talked to Chris, right?" he asked.

"Yes, I just talked to _you_," she said pointedly. "_You_."

"When you talked to Chris just now, was he wearing what I'm wearing?" he asked. He touched his goatee. "And what about this? Did he have this? Or..." He pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and showed her the tattoo on his right arm. "Did he have this?"

"Oh my God, you really _aren't_ Chris!" she exclaimed. She looked at him with wide eyes. "But you look so much like him!"

"I know," he said with a shrug. "I'm cursed."

"You have his eyes, his facial structure, his lips, his body..." Her voice trailed off. "You're a carbon copy of him. You even have his voice!"

"And his love handles. I'm cursed," he replied in a teasing voice.

"You have the sense of humor that he used to have, too," she said wistfully. "Heavy emphasis on _used to have_."

"Maybe it's because I'm younger. I'm only 29," he admitted. "Just a few years younger than him."

"A few years can make a big difference," she said with a sigh. She was thinking about how the two years she hadn't talked to Chris had completely changed her whole relationship with him.

"Anyway," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "I just came here to apologize for my brother's behavior."

"He's an adult. He should be able to do it himself."

"I'm not trying to make excuses for him, but he's been through so much," he said. "So when you came back tonight, he was shocked and all the pain he had buried inside just came rushing back to the surface."

"So..." She tried to think of a way to word her next question so that she wouldn't sound nosey. "How are things with Chris and his wife?"

"Never been better. After he lost contact with you, he focused really hard on making things right with her," he said.

"Oh."

He looked at her and could see the pain in her eyes. He didn't like it. "You look really sad. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, not right now," she said sadly. "No one could help right now except..."

"Chris," he finished. He stood up and grabbed a pen off her desk. "Here," he said, scribbling his cell phone number on a sheet of paper from a sticky pad that was on her desk. He handed it to her. "Call me if you decide there's anything I can do to help. And don't be shy, ok?" He smiled at her, then left the room.

She watched the door close behind him. Then she looked down at the sticky note in her hand. He had his name on it, and his cell phone number. She cradled it to her chest and closed her eyes, knowing that she would never call him...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"I wonder if she'll call me. I actually liked her," Riley said as he entered Chris's locker room. Stephanie was a very likable person...

"Who?" Chris asked. He was still sitting on the couch, but he was in his ring attire. He had a match coming up soon.

"Oh, just this woman I was talking to," Riley said, deciding he couldn't possibly tell his brother who he was talking about. He'd freak out!

"Does this woman have a name?" Chris asked.

"Yes, but I'll just be keeping it to myself," Riley replied. He looked at his watch. "Now don't you have a match?"

"Yep," Chris answered. "Oh yeah, did you get my lawyer to look over that contract Vince gave you?"

"He's coming by tomorrow. We're going to meet up and then I'm going to sign it," Riley answered. "It's going to be interesting having to come up in your shadow here."

"In my shadow?" Chris scoffed. "Right."

"You still have loyal Jerichoholics here, you know?" Riley asked. "Your fan base hasn't completely diminished."

"Or so you say. Still, I love it here, and I'm sure you will, too," Chris said. He looked at the clock over on the wall. "Hey, I have to be out there in a while, so I'm gonna get out of here."

"Going to the ring already?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, I have to make a stop somewhere first," Chris said mysteriously. "I'll see you after my match."

"Ok."

Chris left the locker room and made a beeline for Stephanie's office. He had to apologize. Riley had been right. _If Stephanie is hurt and crying right now, it's all my fault_, he thought. _All my fault_. And he knew that with his conscience, he wouldn't be able to put his all into his match against Edge until he made things right with Stephanie.

He knocked timidly on her office door, tracing the name "Stephanie McMahon" on the nameplate on the door. It was in gold letters, and it lacked the name "Levesque" on the end, making Chris feel better than he had in years.

"Come in," Stephanie called from inside.

Chris walked into the room and was met with a dazzling smile from Stephanie. "Back so soon?" she asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Steph?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Oh, um..." She realized her mistake, noticing that he had no goatee or tattoo. "I meant, you're back so soon to see me after telling me to talk to the door?"

"Yeah, about that... I'm sorry," he said quietly. "You've got to realize how completely _shocked_ I was when I opened the door and found you standing there."

"I totally understand, Chris," she said, standing up. "I hadn't talked to you in two whole years so I don't know why I expected to be welcomed back into your life with a warm hug."

"You can have the hug if you forgive me for acting like an assclown," he said with a half-smile.

"I forgive you, Chris," she said, and she was in his arms in a second.

She hugged him as tight as she could, having been deprived of his hugs for much too long. Everything just felt so familiar. She felt the same sense of security in his arms that she'd always felt with him. Like nothing bad could ever happen to her. She closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered times in the past when he had held her against him just like this for what seemed like forever, times when she could feel his heart beating fast because he was so _excited_ to be so close to her...

He hugged her tight and closed his eyes as memories of times in the past when he had held her this way flooded his thoughts. She still felt so good in his arms... It was like, once again, she was _his_ to comfort, _his_ to protect from the dangers of the world. A feeling of familiarity washed over him, and he grinned, sniffing her hair. Yep, it still smelled the same...

"Friends?" she asked, pulling back and looking at his lips.

_Friends?_ he thought wildly. _She just wants to be friends?_

She pursed her lips, hands on his arms. "Friends?" she repeated.

"Yeah, friends," he agreed, trying to smile.

"Cool." She leaned up... He looked at her, cut her with his piercing blue eyes. She kissed him softly on the cheek, letting her lips linger, then looked at her watch. "You have a match, correct?"

"Right. The match." He looked at her. The place on his cheek where she had kissed him was burning from her touch. She could still ignite the fires within him with a simple touch...

"Good luck," she said to him, sitting back down at her desk.

"Thanks," he said. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, returning the kiss. "I'm gonna go kick some butt for my Jerichoholics... Well, for the few I have left." He headed for the door.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm still a Jerichoholic," she called after him.

They shared a knowing look, and then he was gone.

She smiled after he left, feeling ten times better. Then she looked down at the sticky note with Riley's number on it. "I'll never call it," she said aloud, but she put it in her purse anyway. Then she flipped on the TV to watch Chris's match...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next day, Chris, Riley, Vince McMahon, and Chris's lawyer Kyle Grubbs sat in Vince McMahon's office.

"So, Mr. Grubbs, I understand you've looked over the contract that the company prepared for Riley," Vince McMahon said.

"Please, the formalities are unnecessary. Just call me Kyle," Kyle Grubbs said. "And yes, I have looked over the contract many times in the time that I've had it."

"Have you found any discrepancies or whatnot?" Riley wanted to know.

"None at all. Everything checks out perfectly," Kyle said. "You could sign it right now."

"Here's a pen," Vince said. He handed Riley a pen, an expensive one plated with real gold. "Ready to sign on that dotted line?"

"More than ready," Riley said. He flipped through the pages of the contract, and when he got to the last page, he signed his name with a grand flourish on the dotted line.

"Awesome!" Chris said when Riley passed the contract to Vince.

"I am _so_ ready to get in the ring," Riley said excitedly. "I can't wait to be thrown into a storyline, no matter how small or insignificant it is."

"Small? Insignificant? I don't think so," Vince said. "We have _big_ plans for you, young man."

"Big plans?" Riley could barely sit still in his seat. "All those years of training and wrestling are really starting to pay off."

"Huge. You know who my daughter Stephanie is, right?" Vince asked.

"I've... Um... I've seen her around," Riley replied, glancing at Chris, whose eyebrows were suddenly raising at the mention of her name.

"I'm going to put you in a storyline with her," Vince said. "In a feud against 'The Masterpiece' Chris Masters and Trish Stratus."

"What's Stephanie's role going to be in this storyline?" Chris asked curiously. He had a bad feeling about this already.

"She'll most likely be his business manager," Vince replied. He looked at Chris. "Since you're familiar with having Stephanie as a business manager, maybe you could give your brother a few pointers."

"Pointers?" Chris asked. "What exactly do you mean, Vince?"

"Help Riley here figure Steph out," Vince explained. "You know as well as I do that Steph is a puzzle with innumerable pieces."

"Yeah, that's true," Chris conceded. "She's a mystery."

"So you're gonna help me solve the mystery that is Stephanie McMahon?" Riley asked his brother, with Chris's own trademark smirk on his face.

"I don't have a choice," Chris answered in a flat tone.

"Well then I think we're done here," Vince said. He shook all of their hands, then watched them leave. As soon as they were all gone, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Yeah?" Paul Levesque answered.

"Paul? It's Vince."

"Hey, Vince, what's up?"

"Our plan is in action. I just put Steph in a storyline with Riley Irvine... Riley 'Jericho' or 'RJ' as the fans will come to know him."

"How does that benefit the cause?"

"It'll drive Chris and Steph apart and destroy their fragile friendship, putting her in this romantic storyline with Chris's brother..." Vince grinned. "You know things will get crazy between Chris and Riley because of that horrible temper Chris has when it comes to Steph."

"So when she's at her most vulnerable point, I just swoop in and take her back?"

"Exactly," Vince answered, leaning back in his chair. "Paul, I truly believe that you're the only man for my daughter."

"I believe that as well. It's just a question of making her believe it," Paul replied with a heavy sigh. "Now, I have to go."

"Do your thing, work your charm. But wait until the right time," Vince warned. "You don't want to do it too fast or people will get suspicious."

"I have this under control. I'm the Cerebral Assassin, remember?" Paul reminded him. "I love your daughter, and I'll stop at nothing to get her back."

"That's the spirit," Vince said, but by then he was talking to a dial tone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So tell me everything there is to know about Stephanie," Riley said later that night. He and Chris had just finished practicing some moves in the ring and were on their way to Chris's locker room to grab their stuff.

"There are so many layers you have to peel away to discover the true essence of Stephanie McMahon," Chris said with a sigh. "She's multidimensional."

"So _tell_ me about her!" Riley pressed. "I'm eager to learn everything about her, and I happen to know that you have quite a vast amount of knowledge on the subject."

"Much more than I could possibly tell you in one night," Chris stated, entering his locker room.

"You could give me a _few_ details," Riley said. "I mean, you know so much about the woman that you could write a book about her." He followed him into the locker room to get his stuff.

"Multiple books, actually," Chris said, putting his bag on his shoulder. "Volume after volume, very detailed, about her unique personality traits, and outstanding physical attributes. She's a portrait of elegance, perfection, and beauty."

"Yeah, she _is_ pretty hot," Riley said absentmindedly. He was surprised when Chris shoved him. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Don't even start thinking along those lines," Chris warned him. "Stephanie is off-limits to you, and don't you forget that."

"Dude, it's just a storyline. I'm just trying to do my research so we can have a good business relationship," Riley explained with a scowl. "I mean, isn't that what _you_ would do?"

"Well, yeah," Chris admitted, watching Riley put his bag on his shoulder. "But _you_ would do well not to mention the fact that she's hot to me again."

"Done," Riley said.

"Cool. Let's get outta here."

The two brothers walked down the hall together wearing identical expressions on their faces. As they walked by Stephanie's office, the door opened, and Stephanie stepped out. They stopped walking and stood in front of her.

She looked astonished to see both Riley _and_ Chris in front of her, side by side. They looked so much alike that their resemblance was eerie.

She smiled warmly. "Hi Chris."

"Hey Steph," Chris replied.

She looked at Riley. "Hi Riley."

_She knows who he is?_ Chris thought in bewilderment, but said nothing.

"Once again, we meet," Riley said, smiling at her. "That's twice in two days."

She smiled a genuine smile. "Just a coincidence, or are you stalking me?"

"Stalking. See, I'm only following the portrait of perfection," Riley said with a shrug.

_Is he flirting with her?_ a voice inside Chris's head asked. _No way._

Stephanie looked around the hallway. "Perfection? Yeah, I'm not seeing it."

"Look in the mirror," Riley said, producing a mirror out of nowhere and handing it to her. She looked into it and he walked around and stood behind her. Leaning over her shoulder, he asked, "Do you see what I see?"

_What the fuck is he doing?_ Chris wondered, trying hard to control his temper.

"I only see me," Stephanie answered. "Show me what _you _see."

"Look deeper," Riley ordered. "Beneath your many layers lies your true essence. I can see it: beauty, elegance, perfection. It's all in you."

"Wow. You're really poetic," she breathed, looking in the mirror at her reflection as if she'd never seen it before.

Chris's mouth dropped. "This is bull shit, Riley!" he exclaimed. "How dare you use my words and flirt with her in my face?"

"Flirting is harmless," Riley said.

"And you flirt right back with him?" Chris asked Stephanie. "Bull shit! That's what this is!" He spun on his heel and started to walk away. "Find your own ride to the hotel, Riley!" he called over his shoulder without looking back. He was pissed!

Stephanie and Riley watched Chris stomp angrily away down the hall.

"Your brother has an attitude problem," Stephanie finally said with a sigh.

"Luckily, I'm not like him," Riley replied. "It'd be like Talan and Tristan. Double the trouble!"

"I still find it hard to believe that Chris has so many younger siblings that he neglected to mention in all the years I've known him," she said, shaking her head. "I can't believe there's so much I still don't know about him."

"Would you like to learn more about him...over breakfast tomorrow morning?" he asked.

"Sounds appealing, but I don't know..." Her voice trailed off. "Chris won't be too happy about it."

"Then we'll just invite him along," he said. "Simple."

"You think he'll come?" she asked.

"Of course," he said confidently. "You know he can't resist you."

"He's doing a pretty darn good job of hiding that," she said with a sigh.

"Cheer up. He'll come around," he assured her. "And if he doesn't... Well, there are other men in the world, you know?"

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. She looked up at him, still amazed at how much he really looked like Chris. "Need a ride to the hotel?"

"Since Chris bailed on me, a lift would be_ greatly_ appreciated," he told her.

"Just give me a sec to grab my stuff," she said, and disappeared into her office.

_She's pretty _and_ sweet?_ he thought as he watched her go into her office. _I'm beginning to like her already..._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: Took me FOREVER to update this story, right? Sorry, I just ran out of ideas for this one and came up with ideas for my other ones...**

"Ok, so maybe I overreacted," Chris said to himself as he headed to the hotel where he was supposed to be staying. "But who can blame me? My brother...hitting on the love of my life."

He sat in silence, alone with his thoughts, replaying the situation over and over in his mind...

_"Hi Riley."_

_"Once again, we meet... That's twice in two days."_

_"Just a coincidence, or are you stalking me?"_

_"Stalking. See, I'm only following the portrait of perfection."_

_"Perfection? Yeah, I'm not seeing it."_

_"Look in the mirror. Do you see what I see?"_

_"I only see me. Show me what you see."_

_"Look deeper. Beneath your many layers lies your true essence. I can see it: beauty, elegance, perfection. It's all in you."_

_"Wow. You're really poetic."_

"What the hell was he thinking?" he asked himself, thinking about Riley. "Why would he flirt with her right in front of me...and why would she flirt back?"

He pulled into the parking lot at the hotel and parked his rental car. He leaned his head against the steering wheel after cutting the car off and wondered suddenly when his life had became so complicated again.

_Don't kid yourself, Chris ol' boy,_ he thought. _Your life has never been simple..._

He sighed, then got out of the car and went to the trunk. After popping the trunk, he got his luggage out. He closed the trunk and was about to head out of the parking lot when a car pulled up. The car came to a slow stop and parked right next to where _he_ had parked. The doors opened almost immediately, and there before him stood the princess...and his brother Riley. Together.

It was a disturbing sight, to say the least.

"Are you in a better mood now?" Riley asked right away.

"Actually, I am. I thought about it and I guess I overreacted," Chris admitted. "I mean really," he continued. "Why should I care if my younger brother is hitting on the woman I love? It totally doesn't matter. I'm over it." Then he walked away, muttering to himself.

"That went well," Riley said, shaking his head as his brother walked away.

"Extremely well," Stephanie said, sniffling and looking at Chris, who was almost out of sight.

"Are you crying?" Riley asked, concerned.

"Totally not. Why would I be crying?" she asked, quickly wiping her eyes.

"Because... He's really the jealous type. He doesn't like seeing us together," he replied. "So he's going to keep the smart comments coming."

"He's being all possessive when he totally doesn't want to be with me," she said with a sigh. "He just needs to stop with all the freaking mixed signals."

"Agreed," Riley said. "Come on, let's grab our stuff and I'll walk you to your room."

"Ok."

They got their stuff out of the trunk, then headed into the hotel. They went up to the front desk, and once again, they ran into an angry Chris. Only this time, his anger was directed towards the woman behind the counter instead of at them.

"What the hell do you mean, you gave away my room?" Chris asked angrily. "How could you do something so stupid?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Irvine, but things happen," the woman behind the counter said, sounding and looking like she would be in tears soon.

"Things happen? That's all you have to say to me?" Chris demanded. "I don't understand why people hire incompetent employees,.. It just doesn't make sense!"

"Chris, calm down," Riley said, feeling the need to break in. He knew how his brother got sometimes when he was angry, and he knew what he was capable of. Of course, he wouldn't hit the woman. Riley was glad to say that neither he nor Chris would ever lay their hands on a woman. But sometimes, the verbal abuse could be ten times worse than any physical abuse could be.

"Don't you tell me to calm down, Riley. I've had a really bad day," Chris said, looking at his brother. "And all I want to do right now is go take a nice, hot shower and take my ass to sleep..." He glared back at the woman. "But I can't do that now because I don't have a room."

"I should have a room," Stephanie spoke up, walking up to the desk. She spoke quietly to the woman, calming her down. A minute or two later, she turned around to face the two brothers, holding a card key in her hand. "I have a luxury suite... You guys are welcome to stay the night there, if you want."

"Are you inviting both of us, or are you just inviting Riley?" Chris asked meanly.

"What is your problem, Chris? I'm inviting you both," Stephanie said, wondering why he was in such a crappy mood.

"Chris, just take a chill pill, dude," Riley advised. "I mean it."

Chris didn't say anything. He just turned and headed across the lobby towards the elevator, pulling his luggage behind. Stephanie and Riley shared a look, then followed him over to the elevator. They all stepped inside, and Stephanie pushed the button for the ninth floor. They stood in silence. Chris looked at a fixed point on the floor, Riley looked at the numbers above the door, and Stephanie looked at Chris...

After what seemed like forever, the elevator reached the ninth floor and they all stepped out together. Stephanie led the way to the room and opened the door. "Well, here we are," she said, stepping inside the suite. "Hope you guys don't mind sharing a bed..."

"With you?" Riley couldn't resist asking in a teasing voice.

"No, not with me," she replied seriously, glancing at Chris. She didn't want to do anything else to make him upset. "This room has a king-sized bed in the bedroom and a fold-out bed over there in the couch, so I figured you guys could take the bed and I'll take the couch."

"I can't sleep in the same bed as him," Chris objected immediately, pointing at Riley. "He hogs the covers and he kicks!"

"You sound like a ten-year-old," Stephanie said, frowning at him. "I mean, really."

"I hate to say this, but he's right," Riley said, shrugging. "I sleep like a wild man, and it wouldn't be a really good idea for me to share a bed with anyone..."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Stephanie asked, slipping into "princess" mode. "I may have given up the king-sized bed, sure, but there's no way in hell I'm sleeping on the floor. That's where I draw the line."

"Relax. No one's asking you to sleep on the floor," Riley said. He looked at her, then at his brother. "Why don't you two share the big bed and I take the couch?"

Chris looked at Stephanie for a minute, then looked back at Riley. "That's not a good idea, man. As a matter of fact, that's a _horrible_ idea!"

"Why is it horrible? You don't want to sleep in the same bed as me," Riley reasoned. "And there's a whole lot of room for the two of you."

"No, no, absolutely not," Chris said. He looked at Stephanie, looking desperate. "Tell him that's a bad idea, Steph."

_He called me Steph?_ she thought, surprised. She smiled to herself. "I think it's a good idea, actually," she said.

"What?" Chris asked, surprised that she hadn't agreed with him.

"Then it's settled," Riley said, grinning. "You two will share that bed tonight and I'll take the couch."

"Sounds good to me," Stephanie said, going into the bedroom and putting her luggage down, leaving the two brothers alone.

"Look, Riley, I don't know what you're trying to pull here," Chris said. "One minute you're flirting with her in my face, and the next minute, it's like you're trying to set us up."

"I'm not doing anything," Riley said. "You're doing it all yourself."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chris asked.

"Figure it out yourself... I'm going to take a shower," Riley said mysteriously. He smiled at his brother, then headed for the bathroom.

"You really bug me!" Chris called after him.

"I know, and it's fun!" Riley called back, and then he shut the bathroom door.

_I guess I better go in there now_, Chris thought. He took a deep breath and pasted what he hoped was a neutral look on his face, then walked into the bedroom where Stephanie had disappeared into a short while before. He spotted her on one side of the room, looking through her luggage. "Thanks for letting me share the bed with you," he said grudgingly. "I'm sure you would rather share with Riley but..."

"Cut the crap, Chris," she said shortly, turning to look at him. "What's wrong with you, anyway?"

"Why would you flirt with him in front of me?" he asked her finally. That was what he wanted to know, what he needed to know. "My own brother..."

"Do you think that flirting with him meant something to me?" she asked, sitting down on the bed.

"I don't know. Did it?" he asked, coming to sit next to her.

"Of course not," she answered softly. "Do you think I would intentionally hurt you?"

"Well you _did_ go and marry Paul Levesque and disappear from my life for two years," he muttered. "Without a word, no less."

She looked away. "Yeah, that's true..."

They sat in silence for a while, and then he stood up. "So, yeah, I'm going to go...somewhere..."

"Where?" she asked immediately.

"I don't know... I guess I'll go for a walk so I can clear my mind," he said. He walked over to the door, but paused in the doorway. "Thanks for putting up with me tonight, though."

"If I won't, who will?" she joked, looking over at the doorway to the bedroom, but by then he was already gone.

**A/N: Weird update, I know. I started this chapter long ago, and I never knew what to add to it. So I just added whatever came to mind while I was watching "One Tree Hill" tonight, which was really quite good. I love that show... Anyway, here's the update. Feel free to comment on how it didn't live up to everybody's expectations, lol...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Riley walked out of the bathroom wearing shorts and nothing else. His bare chest still had water droplets on it, and his blond hair was still wet as well. He peeked into the bedroom and saw Stephanie sitting alone on the bed, looking off into space. He leaned in the doorway and looked over at her, waiting for her to notice him. When she didn't, he spoke.

"You look like you're in your own little world," he said loudly.

Stephanie looked up at him, startled. Her eyes took in his body, which looked so much like Chris's body that it was scary. She realized that she was staring, and she looked down at her hands. "I guess I _am_ in my own little world."

"Filled with thoughts of Chris, right?" he asked.

She smiled a little. "Am I that obvious?"

"Yeah," he said with a laugh. "I mean, anybody can see that you're in love with my big bro, just by the way you look at him."

"Then why can't _he_ see that?" she asked, sounding anguished. "Why can't he see the way that I feel about him?"

"He's still hurt," he replied, as if it had been obvious. "You don't understand all the crap he went through over the past few years."

"Tell me, then," she said. "I want to know, because I need to be with him. Just last night, he came to my office and apologized to me before his match and said that we were friends. Now tonight, he's mad at me again, and I just can't understand it all."

"Let me tell you about Chris," he said, sitting down on the bed. "First of all, if you know him as well as I think you do, then you know that he can be a very jealous man."

"I knew he was jealous, but I didn't know just how jealous he could get," she said. "And flirting's pretty harmless, right?"

"Ok, let me start over." He was silent for a minute, and then he looked at her. "When you married Paul and left, Chris was beside himself with grief. He didn't know what to do. Run after you? Wait for you to come back? Go back to his wife?"

"What do you mean go back his wife?" she asked sullenly. "He never left her."

"Oh, on the contrary, he did...somewhat. He moved out of the main house and moved into the guest house," he informed her. "That was the first step."

"He never told me that," she argued. "You're making this up, aren't you?"

"He never told you because it was supposed to be a surprise," he said. "But he did move out. It was all, like, a gradual process. First he started sleeping in a guest bedroom instead of the master bedroom with her, and after that he moved out to the guest house."

"Wow," she said. "And he never told me about any of it."

"It was supposed to be a surprise," he said again. "But I guess it's a good thing he didn't tell you, because then you just disappeared... Why'd you marry what's-his-name anyway?"

"Paul? He was there for me, and he didn't have a wife," she said simply. "I did love him, too, but not the way I love Chris. I don't think I could ever love another man the way that I love Chris."

"I see." He stood up and started to walk out of the room, suddenly anxious to end the conversation. "Well, I have to get some sleep. Today's been a long day for me."

"Goodnight," she called to him.

"Yeah, same to you," he called back, and then he didn't say anything else to her.

Stephanie sat in the bedroom on the edge of the bed and wondered when Chris was coming back. She couldn't quite process all the information Riley had told her. Chris had actually moved out of his bedroom? Out of his house? And for the past two years, she'd been consumed with wondering why Chris wouldn't leave his wife for her and why he wouldn't move out... All that time, he'd actually been ready to move out? Ready to leave his wife to be with her?

She stood up, gathered some of her stuff, and headed for the bathroom for a shower. By the time she came out about thirty minutes later, Chris was back from his walk. She put her stuff away, then sat on her side of the bed and tried not to look at him. She was still thinking about all the things Riley had told her.

"Hope you saved me some hot water," Chris said, not looking at her, making small talk.

"You moved out?" she asked, unable to control what she was saying.

"What?" He looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about?"

"Your brother told me that you moved out into the guest house back, well, you know when," she said. "Is that true?"

"Damn, I told him not to tell you," he said, frowning. "But yeah, I moved out into the guest house. I was going to move completely off the property but then I found out that you married Paul and figured, what's the point?"

"You were really going to leave her...for me?" she asked, swallowing hard.

"Yes." He glared at her. "But that didn't quite happen, did it? Because you married Paul, didn't you?"

"Because I thought you didn't want me! I felt like a whore, Chris," she whispered. She mentally cursed at herself as she felt the tears coming. "You don't know how I felt, having to sneak around with you. I was always wondering if you would ever leave her or if I would always just be your woman on the side..." She looked away as the tears fell.

_That's just what Riley said last night_, he thought, and immediately he started to feel guilty. He was at her side in a flash, touching her arm. "I'm sorry, Steph," he said softly. He didn't know exactly what he was apologizing for, but he knew he had a lot of reasons to say it to her. "I never meant to make you feel that way. If it makes you feel any better, I certainly never thought of you as a whore."

"That's just what I felt like," she said sadly, looking at him.

"That's not what you were to me," he said, reaching up with his hand to touch her face. "Now wipe these tears away and stop crying."

"What did I mean to you?" she asked, reaching up to touch the hand he was touching her face with.

"God, Steph, you meant the world to me," he whispered softly, staring into her eyes. "You were my everything, the woman I lived for...You were the woman of my dreams..."

"Do you still feel that way?" she whispered, wanting to just lean over and kiss him.

He immediately pulled his hand away from her face and stood up. "It doesn't matter if I feel that way or not now," he said, going over to his luggage. "What we had is done, and the most you and I can be now is friends. These past two years, I've worked really hard to get my marriage back on track, and while I can't say that I'm totally happy...it'll have to do." He finished his little speech and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door before she could get in another word.

She sat on the bed, staring dumbfounded at the closed bathroom door, going over what he'd just said in her mind. She wanted to cry, she wanted to throw a temper tantrum, she wanted to do something to make him change his mind. Of course, she knew that once he had his mind set on something, there was no changing it. She was just going to have to deal with it...

She laid down in the bed and snuggled up under the covers, feeling very vulnerable all of a sudden. She laid there in silence until Chris came out of the bathroom, freshly showered, a few minutes later. She felt his presence in the room, felt it when he laid down on his side of the bed. She turned on her side to look over at him and saw that he was lying on his side with his back to her.

"So it's really over between us, huh?" she asked, hoping that sometime between the end of their last conversation and his shower, he had changed his mind. She held her breath, waiting for his reply.

"Yeah," he said after a minute. "It's really over."

"You're with your wife for good now?" she asked, disappointed.

"Looks that way," he answered.

"And you and I are just friends?" she asked.

"Enough with the questions, Steph," he said, yawning. "Just go to sleep."

She sighed and turned back over on her side with her back to him. She closed her eyes. It was really over...

**A/N: So, weird, I know. I had an idea where I was going but now I'm lost again... But in other news, I already started Chapter 9 and I'm gonna be updating "Sometimes It Comes True" sometime this week, so be on the lookout!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Chris laid in the bed on his side with his back to Stephanie, listening to her breathe as she slept. The sound of her breathing just added to everything else that let him know that once again, she was there. It was almost the way it used to be. He could remember how they once were, the way he used to listen to her breathe while she slept, how he used to sometimes wake up and look at her while she slept, just to make sure that she was still there. He didn't know why he had fallen for her back then, and he didn't know why he was still crazy about her now. But most of all, he didn't know why he'd told her that they could only be friends now.

He turned to look at her and propped himself up on his elbow. He could barely see her in the dark room, but he could see enough, and for some reason that was comforting to him. _Why did I tell her that it was over? _he asked himself. Almost immediately, the answer came to him. It was because he was scared that he would be hurt...again. That was it. The only one who really knew how much he'd been hurt when he found out she was married to Paul was Riley. Riley had been there for him during all the rough times. He'd been there when Chris had wanted to just give up and leave everything behind... Chris didn't want to go through it all again, but he had to admit, Stephanie was still the love of his life, and he still loved her as much as he had two years before, maybe even more...

He reached over and turned on the lamp next to his side of the bed. The lamp cast a dim glow over the room. He looked back over at Stephanie and sighed. "My princess," he whispered, smiling lightly. He wanted to reach over and touch her, maybe just move a little closer to her so he could hold her in his arms, but he knew he shouldn't. Really, he _couldn't_, after what he'd told her. He had to stick to what he'd said and resist the temptation that was Stephanie McMahon.

With another sigh, he reached back over and turned the light off. He laid there for a long time, still listening to her breathing, before he finally dosed off to sleep...

He woke up at around three in the morning to the feeling of a talented hand softly touching him, feeling his body. He turned over and knew instantly that it was Stephanie. He would know her touch anywhere, even though he hadn't felt it for a long time. He flipped the lamp on again and looked at her. She just looked back at him, never stopping the feathery soft caresses.

"Christ, Steph, what are you doing?" he asked, catching her hand as he felt his body responding to her in ways that he knew it shouldn't.

"I need you," she answered simply. "I want you."

"I thought I told you that we could only be friends," he reminded her, letting her hand go. "I thought I told you that we were really over."

"You didn't mean that and you know it," she said in a low voice, leaning over him. "I just need to be with you... I need to be with you right now."

"Steph, I'm still married, and I'm one hundred perfect committed to my wife," he said. _But you're not happy with her_, a voice in his head taunted. "What we had is over now. We were perfect together, but you hurt me, and I can't go through it all again."

"I was hurting, too. I'm still hurting now," she whispered, one hand on his bare chest. "I ache for you, Chris. I ache for you all over."

"I ache for you, too," he admitted quietly, closing his eyes as she touched him. His skin tingled as she gently moved her hand over his chest, touching, feeling. "But we can't start this all over again... We can't get back what we had."

"We could try, couldn't we?" she pleaded. "Chris, I want to try."

"We can't," he whispered, trying his hardest not to give in. He knew, though, that if she kissed him... If her lips touched his skin _anywhere_, he knew he would give in and give her what she wanted, hell, what they _both_ wanted...

She looked at him for a minute, right before she laughed. She didn't find the situation to be even remotely funny, but if she didn't laugh, she was going to cry. "I am so pathetic," she said, in between laughs. "I can't even turn you on anymore."

"I never said that. I'm feeling the effects of that now," he told her, looking pointedly down at the sheets, then back at her. "But Steph, we can't dive headfirst into this...into whatever this is. We can't do that again, or we'll _both_ get hurt."

"You're right," she said, moving away even though she didn't want to. "You're absolutely right."

"Let's just try being friends," he said in a low voice. _You idiot, you can't be friends with her_, he cursed himself mentally. _You know you want her_.

"With benefits?" she asked hopefully. _Damn, I sound desperate!_ she thought, but she didn't care. She wanted him, she _needed_ him... She couldn't just lay in a bed next to him and not be with him... It was torture.

"Friends with benefits? That's how this whole thing started with us in the first place. Don't you remember?" he asked, sitting up all the way in the bed.

"Yes," she said. "But don't you want me anymore?"

He looked at her for a minute, thinking that she looked really pretty in the glow from the lamp. "Of course I still _want_ you," he whispered finally. "I want you so bad that it's driving me insane! But I can't get back on this roller coaster with you again. I just can't."

"I never know anything with you," she said, closing her eyes. "One day you like me, the next day you don't. One second you tell me you want me and the next second you're telling me that we can't happen." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "I just can't deal with the mixed signals, you know?"

"I'm sorry if I'm sending you mixed signals," he apologized. "That's how I'm feeling inside right now, though. Really mixed up."

"I know how that feels," she said with a sigh.

"One minute, I want to yell at you and tell you just how much you made me hurt when you married Paul," he said in a somewhat louder, angry voice. "I want to hurt you the way you hurt me. I want you to know how it feels to have your heart ripped out of your chest the way you ripped mine out."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, getting closer to him and putting her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry for everything..."

"And then the next minute..." His voice trailed off as he touched her face, gently rubbing her lip with his thumb. "The next minute I just want to forget about all the pain... I want to look you in the eyes and tell you how much I love you... I just want to kiss you again, the way we used to kiss..."

"Then do it," she urged him. "It's what we both want. Do it."

"But I can't," he whispered, pulling away yet again. "I can't take you back."

"Then why get my hopes up?" she asked as tears of anger and disappointment came from her eyes. "Why make me believe that we have a chance when we don't?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, Steph. I just don't know anything anymore."

"I know something," Riley said sleepily from by the door. Both Chris and Stephanie looked over at him as he stood there, hair messy and eyes heavy-lidded, looking so much like his brother. "I know that you two really need to be quiet. It's, like, nearly four in the morning. I can understand that the two of you are having a 'heartfelt' conversation, but really, some of us need our sleep."

"Sorry," Stephanie said contritely, moving back to her side of the bed. "It's all my fault. I didn't intend to wake you up."

"Don't apologize to him. He's the reason we're sharing a bed right now, anyway," Chris pointed out, frowning.

"Well in that case, maybe I should thank you," she said, trying her hardest to smile and not let Riley see how she was really feeling.

"You're welcome. Anything for you, Steph," Riley said, yawning. "Now I'm going-"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chris asked, narrowing his eyes at his brother.

"What are you talking about?" Riley asked, bewildered.

"Anything for you, Steph," Chris mocked, rolling his eyes. He laid back in the bed on his back and closed his eyes. "Get out, Riley, and close the door on your way out, ok?"

"Out of the hotel room?" Stephanie asked in disbelief.

"No, not out of the hotel room. Out of _this_ room. Go get on the couch where you were, dude," Chris ordered Riley, sounding exasperated. "You two can talk or flirt or _whatever_, but I need to get some shut eye."

"Geez, are you PMSing?" Riley asked. When Chris didn't reply, Riley just shook his head and left the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.

Stephanie debated on whether or not to ask Chris to turn off the lamp, which was on his side. Finally, she decided that _she_ would turn it off herself. She crawled over to his side, then leaned over him and reached for the lamp. Unfortunately for her, she somehow slipped and landed draped across his chest. She got off him quickly and looked at him with wide eyes, biting her lip.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked, sitting up and grabbing both of her shoulders. He frowned at her. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"I was just trying to turn the lamp off," she explained meekly. She got inexplicably nervous all of a sudden. Maybe it was because of the way he was tightly gripping her shoulders, or maybe it was because of that familiar wild look in his eyes. She didn't know what was about to happen, but something was _definitely_ going to happen.

"A likely excuse. You... You're impossible, Stephanie McMahon," he snapped, and then he pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. He didn't know why he was kissing her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he was wrong for what he was doing, but at that moment, he could care less about whether it was wrong or not. He missed her...

"Chris," she whispered breathlessly, pulling him to her when he ended the kiss. "What was that for?"

"I don't know," he whispered back, his lips right next to her ear. "But we really need to go to sleep."

"Sleep?" she repeated incredulously. "You want to sleep?"

"No, I don't want to sleep," he said honestly as he pulled away and laid back down. "But now I can." He smiled at her, wondering if she understood what he was trying to tell her.

"Right," she said, lying down next to him. "We'll sleep now... But we need to talk in the morning."

"Night, Steph," he said in a low voice, looking at her.

"Good _morning_, Chris," she replied, looking back at him.

He reached over and turned the lamp off, and soon they were both sleeping soundly...

**A/N: So they're both pretty mixed up right now. I don't think Chris knows what he really wants. I guess he just can't resist her...**


End file.
